Tata steel commissions its Kalinganagar plant in Jajpur district

With this Tata Steel joined the club of big ticket projects including Vedanta, Jindal, Aditya Birla Group, Essar and Bhushan Steel operating in the stateMinati Singha | TNN | November 19, 2015, 14:00 IST

BHUBANESWAR: Steel major Tata Steel commissioned its much-hyped integrated steel plant at Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Jajpur district of Odisha on Wednesday. The six million tonne per annum (MTPA) plant aimed to expand its capacity to 16 mtpa with an investment of Rs one lakh crore by 2025.

With this Tata Steel joined the club of big ticket projects including Vedanta, Jindal, Aditya Birla Group, Essar and Bhushan Steel operating in the state. The plant is also a shot in the arms for the state government, which has been struggling to realize its industrial dream since long.

Inaugurating the first phase of the steel plant chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, “Tata Steel project will be a milestone in the industrial history of Odisha. As the various facilities of this steel plant are progressively commissioned, I am sure it will not only provide a fillip to the industrialization of the state but also contribute to the local economy and the development of Kalinganagar and its nearby areas.” Over 3000 people have got direct employment and more than 22 thousand have got indirect employment, Naveen added.

The company has invested around Rs 25,000 crore for the commissioning of the first phase with a capacity of three MTPA developed over 3000 acres of land. Started with an estimated investment of Rs 15,400 crore in 2004, the project had to pass through rough weathers after 14 tribals were killed in police firing during the construction of boundary wall for the plant site on January 2, 2006.

“We have invested Rs 25,000 crore in the first phase. We will be investing Rs 2,000 crore on developing the iron ore mines at Khandabandh that will feed the Kalinganagar plant. Kalinganagar would be the largest single location greenfield steel plant in the country. Ten years later it would be a much bigger ecosystem,” said chairman of Tata Group, Cyrus P Mistry.

The state-of-the-art plant will produce world-class flat, lighter, high-tensile strength steel and will augment Tata Steel’s production to around 13 MTPA of crude steel in India. “Production of like high-grade flat products for ship-building, defence equipment, energy and power, infrastructure building, aviation and lifting and excavation in the plant will improve the company’s portfolio,” said managing director of Tata Steel, T V Narendran.